Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Music History Today: November 11, 2020

November 11, 1991: One week before his "Black Or White" music video airs, a memo circulated at MTV, instructing the network's on-air personnel to refer to Michael Jackson as the King of Pop at least twice a week during the next two weeks.

Frank Sinatra was the King of Pop in the mid-1940s; perhaps the first bearer of the crown. Elvis Presley was King of Pop from 1956, when he exploded like a supernova on to world consciousness, until 1960, when he emerged from the army and began his fade into a routine of bad Hollywood films.

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The Beatles were the Kings of Pop longer than anyone, towering over the worlds of music, youth culture and fashion from their arrival on US TV screens in early 1964, until their split, and it's arguable that as solo artists both Lennon and McCartney – and even George Harrison during the global success of All Things Must Pass in 1970-1 – continued to occupy the throne for a year or so afterwards. 

Read more: The Guardian

November 11, 1967: Van Morrison made his only appearance on American Bandstand, lip-syncing his big hit "Brown Eyed Girl."

According to Morrison, the single, produced by Bert Berns and first released in mid-June 1967, was originally entitled Brown Skinned Girl. Morrison changed the name to Brown Eyed Girl when he had finished recording it.

Van Morrison

Remarking on the original title, he said: “That was just a mistake. It was a kind of Jamaican song... Calypso. It just slipped my mind. I changed the title.” 

Read more: Belfast Telegraph

November 11, 1972:  The Allman Brothers Band bassist Berry Oakley was killed when his cycle crashed into a bus in Macon, Georgia, just three blocks from the place where guitarist Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident just a year previous.  

Former Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts always made it a point to celebrate the importance of bassist Berry Oakley's contributions to the legendary Southern rock band.  

Berry Oakley

Before Oakley died on Nov. 11, 1972, he was responsible for some of the most iconic Allman riffs, including the opening of "Whipping Post."

Read more: Ultimate Classic Rock

 

November 11, 1978: Foxy's disco hit "Get Off" peaked at Number 9 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.

Miami-born band Foxy was performing at an Ocean City, MD, club when in the midst of the rocking fervor began chanting "get off," a popular slang phrase with sexual overtones. The club owner barged on-stage and demanded that the band stop chanting.

When band leader Ish Ledesma said that the crowd was digging it, the club owner threatened the band with bodily harm. In an attempt to get even, Ledesma and Carl Diggs co-wrote a song using the "get off" phrase that same night. 
Read more: Allmusic

November 11, 1982: Marvin Gaye's  "Sexual Healing" became his 13th and final Number 1 on the Billboard R&B chart. 

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